Sanchez fined $5,000, apologizes to Vilma

Posted by NBC Sports on October 7, 2009, 3:02 PM EST

After throwing an interception last week, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez flew wildly at Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma’s knees despite the fact that Vilma wasn’t carrying the ball or particularly near the man who was.

The moment was inexplicable: either a total brain fart or one of the dirtiest plays you’ll ever see.

The NFL fined Sanchez $5,000 for the cheap shot, and Sanchez called Vilma to apologize about it. He’s going with the brain fart explanation.

“I told [Vilma], ‘You know, I’m running down the field. I’m upset after the
pick.’ I said, ‘Hey dude, I didn’t know what I was doing.’ . . . I don’t want to be the guy on film that’s quitting on the play,” Sanchez explained.

“At the
same time, I don’t want to take that guy on head up and then get in
trouble for putting myself in danger. So I just told him that I got to
be smart about that. And he said, ‘No problem at all. I understand. And
good luck.’ He was a great guy about it and a real class guy.”

If Sanchez had seriously injured Vilma, the play would have received a lot more attention. Luckily for both of them, the Saints’ leader on defense is just fine

And luckily for Saints fans, Eric Mangini traded Vilma away to New Orleans and only got a fourth-round pick in return.

Of course, Rosenthal leaves out that the reason the Jets only received a 4th round pick is because Vilma was coming off microfracture surgery on his knee. He was a bad fit for the 3-4 defense they were playing as it was, so they tried to get something for him before he left via free agency.

Easy to apologize, call it a brain fart and shrug it off when you *didn’t* shred the other guys knee(s) and potentially end his season and/or career.
I actually liked the guy when he played at USC, but its clear after being immersed in the sleazy culture created by Tannenbaum, Rex Ryan, et al for the last few months, that this guy is officially now a bleeding green Jester.